What does a city sound like? Asked that question, do you think of the dull roar of traffic, the staccato yelp of a horn, the wobbling screech of an alarm? In other words, do you think of cars? Automobiles are such a fixture of the urban landscape that it’s easy to overlook just how much they dominate the soundscape, too. But that changed when the coronavirus pandemic arrived a year ago. As workplaces went virtual and shopping shifted online, traffic largely vanished. The relative quietude delighted many urban residents—and not just humans. A study of Bay Area sparrows found that their birdsongs grew richer as the automotive din subsided.